


sasha james, head archivist

by OnyxSphinx



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: archivist sasha, but i will..........one day.........ONE DAY i will write a full length archivist sasha fic, i love archivist sasha so much, i wrote this literally like five minutes after listening to MAG 161 the day it was released, mostly feel-good because i refuse to think about like, not!jon, one day i'll write something longer with her lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23551222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxSphinx/pseuds/OnyxSphinx
Summary: in which Elias offers the job to Sasha rather than Jon, and things go slightly differently
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	sasha james, head archivist

**Author's Note:**

> i love archivist sasha more than words can convey

“You want me to _what?_ ” Sasha asks; eyes wide; staring down at Elias.

They’re standing in Sasha’s office; technically, as the over-boss, Elias should have called her into _his_ office, but Sasha suspects that he prefers to take people off guard, hence, well; _this_. It’s partially a Napoleon complex, she’s pretty sure, since the man barely clears five foot two.

“Take the Head Archivist position,” Elias repeats, patiently; though there’s a spark of irritation in his gaze. “I know you weren’t _expecting_ this, but Gertrud left explicitly stated that she wanted you as her successor, so…” 

He trails off. The _you’re not my first choice_ isn’t said, but it’s pretty heavily implied, and Sasha bites back a scowl. Honestly, she doesn’t know what it is—Elias gets along with Martin, Tim, and, especially, _Jon_ just fine, but for some reason, no matter what Sasha does, he watches her with a wary, half-calculating look.

“Why not…Tim, or, I don’t know, uh…” she draws a blank; there’s only the two of them who’re really _qualified_ for it, but she doesn’t want to _say_ that.

This time, Elias lets out a sharp breath, his displeasure palpable. “Trust me,” he says, “I’m only offering this because Gertrude wanted me to. So—do you accept?”

“I…well, I _suppose_ ,” Sasha sighs. “When do you want me to start?”

“Whenever you see fit,” Elias says. “I’m sure _you_ know better in these matters than I do.”

With that, he turns, disappearing down the hallway back towards his office. “Well, nice talk, then, boss,” Sasha says, sarcastically.

“Soooo,” Tim says, poking his head around the corner, “new boss-lady, then? Congrats.”

“Shut it, Stoker,” Sasha grumbles, and Tim grins widely at her; snapping off a salute and then ducking back to his own desk when Sasha chucks an eraser at him. She shakes her head to herself, but smiles slightly at his antics once she retrieves it and goes back to her own desk to get her stuff organised.

* * *

The Archives…are _horrifically_ disorganised. If she didn’t know any better, Sasha would say it’s a _purposeful_ disorganisation—there’s boxes of statements stacked three levels high, precarious, and statements shoved haphazardly onto shelves, and, god.

“This is going to take some time,” she sighs, and drops the box with her stuff in it onto the desk, and turns around to go get the others to help her.

“This is…a bit of a _mess_ ,” Jon says, eying it all, and Sasha huffs.

“Tell me about it,” she grumbles, “honestly, you’d think Gertrude didn’t want anyone to know _anything_.”

Martin hums. “I think that’s a bit of a leap,” he says, quietly, “I mean—she was very good at her job…she probably just has a, an unorthodox filing system…going on…” he trails off as one of the boxes begin to wobble, off-balanced by a gust of wind as Tim opens the door and enters. 

Sasha darts forward, grabbing it before it can fall, and lets out an _oomph_ —for a box of papers, it’s heavier than she expected.

“Still think that?” Jon asks, behind her, and Martin makes an indignant little sound, thankfully cut off by Tim.

“Jon,” he says, loudly, “how about you go help Sasha with that stack of boxes, and Martin and I’ll start in the back.”

“Sounds good,” Sasha says, and offers a small smile when Jon appears in her view. He’s a newer addition to the team—moved up from research to main archival crew only a few months ago, and he’s still a bit jumpy. Sasha likes him, though, and she _really_ likes gossiping with Tim about the crush Martin has on him.

Personally, she doesn’t really get it, but like, to each their own—and Jon can be pretty nice, once you get him past the initial awkwardness; he doesn’t seem to really _do_ or _understand_ smalltalk, but Sasha’s had some really cool conversations with him when she has managed to get him to relax.

“Honestly, I have no idea why we keep all of these statements,” Jon grumbles, leaning over to pick up another box, “they’re all more than likely just people trying to, to gain fame, or ramblings about things that have a perfectly scientific explanation.”

“Bend your knees,” Sasha reminds. “And Jon, trust me, even if some of these are pure bull, there’s lots that are real—trust me, I worked in Artefact Storage; that stuff’s _definitely_ not something you can explain away with science.”

Jon scowls, for a moment, but does bend his knees. “Alright,” he concedes, grudgingly, “but surely, _surely_ we ought to toss _some_ of these out.”

“It’s the principal of the matter,” Sasha says, firmly; and then, “yeah, okay, stick that right there—”

* * *

“Tim,” Sasha calls, and watches as the other emerges from behind his desk, half-slouched in his rolling office chair. His hair’s bright purple this month, and he’s been drawing on his hands with markers, and when he realises what she’s looking at, he shoves them into his pockets sheepishly. Sasha’s lips twitch.

“Yeah, boss?” Tim says, “what’s up?”

“I got another lead for your clown board,” Sasha says. “This one’s about some plumber—it’s one of the ones Gertrude recorded; the statement giver, Sebastian Skinner, ran into Jude Perry, and someone who he only refers to as ‘Megan’, but I’m _pretty_ sure is Nikola Orsinov.”

“It’s not a _clown board,_ ” Tim grumbles, “it’s a file of things I’ve found while researching and investigating.”

“You tack things up on a cork-board with red string,” Sasha says, drily, and passes him the transcript of the statement. 

Tim scowls at her. “How’d you know about the—nevermind. Fine, I’ll add it to the… _clown board_.”

“While you’re at it, ask Martin to do some digging into Jude Perry, will you?” Sasha adds, “I haven’t seen him around, but I spend most of my time down in the Archives, so…” she shrugs.

There’s a beat, and then Tim frowns. “That’s weird,” he says, “I haven’t seen him around either. Jon?”

“No, I haven’t,” Jon calls, from his desk. “He did send a text saying he was sick, but…it’s been three days.”

“Why does he have your—” Tim’s grin widens. “Oh _ho_ ,” he cackles.

“ _Tim!_ ” Jon hisses, and sticks his head around the corner to glare at the both of them, “shut up, it’s not—I offered to get him anything if he needed it, after his mum died! It was a—a—” he sputters for a moment.

“Jon,” Sasha says, “I absolutely don’t care about why you have Martin’s number. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Well, he’s _sick_ ,” Jon frowns, “I think that’s a pretty good explanation for why he showed up.”

“He once came to work with _bronchitis_ ,” Sasha says, drily. “ _Nothing_ , and I mean _nothing_ , short of death could keep that man from his job. I want you to go check up on him.”

“ _Sasha—!_ ”

She cuts him off. “I’m not asking as your friend, I’m asking as your boss.”

Jon scowls. “Fine,” he snaps, “I’ll leave a bit early tonight and swing by his place—oh, don’t give me that look, Tim!”

Sasha’s lips twitch, and she leaves the two of them to bicker.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me at [autisticharrow](https://autisticharrow.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


End file.
